Part of the Family
A/N: This is my first time writing in this fandom, I hope you enjoy it :) Please excuse any errors as this is unbetaed.
"Doctor." Rose kept her voice steady, even though her heart felt like it was doing the tango.
He looked up from the monitor he'd been staring at while mumbling something about parallel energies and the time theory. They had just returned from a planet where its inhabitants had been quite welcoming for a change. No disaster had struck. Quite boring actually. She figured now was a good time to give him his belated Christmas present.
Rose smiled at the memory. Their first Christmas together and the Doctor had amazed her. He didn't do domestics, he'd said so himself on more than one occasion. But something had changed. He'd spent the holiday with her and her Mum. And he'd enjoyed it. With all that had happened, she'd never had the chance to give him her gift.
Rose walked over to him, holding the box behind her back.
"Yes," he said his eyes already drifting back to his calculations.
"Do you have a minute?"
That was all it took. He stood up straight, his work forgotten. "For you, always. Maybe even two. What is a minute anyway? Did you know that on the plane-"
Rose laughed, he gave her his best "did I say something weird again" look and she laughed even harder. He really could be so easily distracted, she found his habit of going off on tangents to be adorable and quite amusing.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing." She stepped forward and kissed him gently on the cheek. She considered giving him a proper snog, but didn't want to press her luck. "Have I told you how much I love traveling with you yet today?"
"Even the new new me," he beamed.
"Even the new new new new you. You could change faces a hundred times and I'd still be right beside you."
His eyes were locked with hers and he was unusually quiet. The sound of the TARDIS humming filled the room.
"Thank you Rose," he said softly.
"Right, well, I wanted to give you something. Before Rose could change her mind, she held out his present in front of her. His eyebrows almost reached his hairline as he stared at the small, rectangular gift. She'd wrapped it in paper covered with stars. It had seemed appropriate at the time, now standing here, it seemed anything but.
"What's this?"
"A Christmas present.. a little late bu-"
"Never late. It can be Christmas again if you want. Timelord remember."
"Well, open it." She pressed.
"Don't have to tell me twice." He snatched the box and removed the paper in a flurry of motion. When he saw what it was, he froze, literally. His eyes glued to her gift. It was a picture of her, the Doctor, and her mum on Christmas day. The frame had "Forever family" engraved on the bottom. Mickey had snapped the shot before he'd left that night.
His silence terrified her. He hated it.
The Doctor met her eyes. "Rose..."
Then he was hugging her. She buried her face in his shirt and breathed him in, he smelled like eternity. They held onto each other for several long moments until he abruptly pulled away and took off down the corridor leading deeper into the TARDIS.
She stood there stunned. Thirty seconds later he was dashing back towards her, a huge smile on his handsome face.
"What was that all about then?" She asked.
He was practically bouncing as he shoved a box wrapped in shiny green paper at her. "I got you something."
Then she was bouncing as well while she tore into it. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets and her jaw hit the floor.
"Is it okay?" He sounded unsure, vulnerable.
She reached out and squeezed his hand, "I love it."
It was a necklace that started with a thin silver chain, and ended with a pendant of a wolf howling at the moon. Simple but beautiful, just how she liked her jewelry.
"Really. Good then. I thought you might not like it. I've never bought this kind of thing before. It was either this or the air from my lungs, I didn't think you'd want that, so a necklace it was then."
Her eyes took on a mysterious glint, "Oh I don't know about that."
He grinned. "Turn it over."
The wolf pendant had been engraved on the back. "The bad wolf never gave up on me." She felt tears sting her eyes as she read it.
"You should have seen the look on the jewelers face when I told him what I wanted. I think he thought I was mad. Can you imagine that?"
She laughed. "Thank you Doctor." Rose made a move to put it on, but his hand slid over hers.
"May I?"
"Of course."
She lifted up her hair as he fastened the necklace, his fingers lingered longer than necessary. Then in the blink of an eye he was back at the TARDIS control console, pushing buttons, and babbling a mile a minute. Rose joined him. She couldn't help but think how lucky she was to have such a marvelous man in her life.
"So where did you want to go next? Past, present, future?"
"Surprise me." She grinned.
"Oh Rose Tyler, you just said the magic words."
Their laughter rang out, burning brighter than any star.
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